Dollhouse for Dushala

Kunti sat in a majestic chair, in a corner of the gigantic hall, her head in her hands. She looked up for a moment at the chaos that lay abreast her, evidently exasperated. Then she hit her own head gently, buried her face into her lap and began to shed tears.

The young boys, her five sons and their one hundred cousins, were an impossibly mad and wayward lot. They were all present in that very hall then and they were constantly quarrelling with and rivalling against each other. They were much like a gang of notorious robbers who were in the process of deciding how they were going to divide the loot among themselves. They were perpetually at each other's throats and they threw tantrums every now and then and the servants and attendants, they ran helter-skelter in confusion and in trying to get them what they wanted. The enormous chamber that housed them was verily the definition of mayhem. Why, many a tender handmaiden would easily faint at the mere sight of it!

 
The servants by now, had drained themselves completely and had essentially given up on them. Kunti herself had tried a thousand times that very day, and it wasn't even noon yet, to get them to indulge in some fruitful activity. It goes without saying that she had failed and so epicly she had failed, every single time. Now, she clearly was tired of trying to tame and discipline them and she sat there in a corner, wondering if even the lord of the three worlds himself could get them to stop bickering and to choose quietude like good boys. She hadn't the slightest idea what she was going to do about it and she remained seated there, sobbing and brooding.

"Aunt Kunti?" A soft and chirpy voice caused her to look up a second time from the haven she had found for herself in her own hands, where she could peacefully weep.

"Aunt Kunti," the little girl that stood in front of her, exclaimed, visibly concerned, "Is everything alright?"
"No, nothing is alright, my dear Dushala," Kunti declared, wiping her tears and breathing hard, "The boys, I simply am exhausted of all these attempts of getting them to sit at one place and be good. All of the attempts have been rendered futile. They pay no heed to me and at this point even the attendants are done dealing with them. The king has summoned Acharya Drona to come over today for a formal meeting, and the mess the boys make is so ominous, and the noise they make so awful that I am afraid the wise Acharya might refuse to take them for his disciples if he sees or hears any of it. Ah, I really don't know what to do now! My god, I think that all of this, it will eventually lead me to lose my sanity." She spat it all out and then slipped into a crying fit all over again.

Dushala then, stood there with her finger on her lips, deep in thought. Within a few moments, her face seemed to light up like the full moon.

"Aunt Kunti," she exclaimed rather cheerily, "I think I know what we can do!"
"Really?" Asked Kunti, not quite believing her own ears. Could the eight year old really pull off an impossible feat and do what a hundred servants couldn't?

Dushala then sauntered into hall. She took a position exactly at the center of it and then, taking a deep breath, she let out a loud cry.

Almost instantly, as if by some heavenly miracle, the Kuru Princes let go of whatever they were doing. They rushed in promptly and gathered themselves all around her, forming a large, protective circle and they all started to eye her anxiously.

"Sister Dushala," Bheema was the first to speak, worry gracing every word he spoke, "What is wrong?"
"Who is that scoundrel who dared to make my little sister cry?" Asked Suyodhana, gnashing his teeth, "Tell me, darling, and I promise that with my bare hands, I shall crush his skull."
"Yes, yes, that wretch shall not be spared," barked Sushasana, seconding his older brother.
But Dushala, she went on wailing!
"No, no one really did anything to me, bhaiya," she sobbed and she stated, stuttering, "I..I just want a new dollhouse and mata said I can't have a new one now. She said the only way I can get one now is if I could make my brothers build it for me."

The Pandavas and Kauravas exchanged a few glances.
"Is that all, sister?" Yudhishthira enquired as he step forward and caressed the girl's cheeks. "It will be done!" He proclaimed with an air of immediate relief.

Wasting no more time, the princes got to work. Arjuna, Vikarna and Anuvinda, came and began discussing with Dushala what she wanted the house to look like. Sahadeva brought in a canvas, pens and paints, and Nakula began drawing what was being discussed with a bit of help from Yuyutsu and Vinda. Yudhishthira embarked on a journey to the other end of the palace, where he hoped to find Sanjaya and was accompanied by Visalaksha. He wanted to tell Sanjaya to arrange for all the tools they would need. Bheema and Suyodhana delegated themselves with the task of gathering enough wood for the project. They planned to set out to the forests on the outskirts of the city themselves to complete the task. Sushasana had volunteered to tag along. It would come as quite a surprise to the commoners of the kingdom, seeing the three of them gathering wood together. They had always considered the three of them to be sworn enemies.
Kunti watched contently as all of the brothers made sure they had every trace of jealousy and conflict that existed between them, duly escorted to the gates of the palace with strict instructions given to the sentries, not to let those traces back in, at least for the time being. She felt finally happy. 

Dushala's laughter echoed through the walls of the chamber as she clapped her hands in glee. She looked on at Kunti, beaming, leaving the woman totally in awe of the clever and courageous young princess, who she now knew, also had the chops needed for acting and drama.